Quantum annealing through a first-order phase transition: field theory approach

• URL: http://arxiv.org/abs/2608.21329v1
• Date: Fri, 21 Aug 2026 17:36:42 GMT
• Title: Quantum annealing through a first-order phase transition: field theory approach
• Abstract summary: We present a field theory for kinetics of defects emerging during quantum annealing computations.<n>Sharp changes between the power exponents are predicted for continuous parameter changes.<n>This behavior would be a signature of first-order critical points and could help identify and avoid them for better computations.
• Score: 0.0
• License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Abstract: Unlike second-order phase transitions, a first-order transition has a stage, in which a system is trapped in a metastable state. The decay of this state leads to abundant excitations over the ground state. We present a field theory for kinetics of defects emerging during quantum annealing computations. This theory predicts several power laws for the error generation rate during quantum annealing either though or near the first-order phase transition. Sharp changes between the power exponents are predicted for continuous parameter changes. Observation of this behavior would be a signature of first-order critical points and could help identify and avoid them for better computations. The driven Lipkin-Meshkov-Glick model (LMGm) serves as the minimal model of interacting Ising spins that demonstrates this behavior.

Related papers

• Thermalization and Criticality on an Analog-Digital Quantum Simulator [133.58336306417294]
  We present a quantum simulator comprising 69 superconducting qubits which supports both universal quantum gates and high-fidelity analog evolution. We observe signatures of the classical Kosterlitz-Thouless phase transition, as well as strong deviations from Kibble-Zurek scaling predictions. We digitally prepare the system in pairwise-entangled dimer states and image the transport of energy and vorticity during thermalization.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2024-05-27T17:40:39Z)
• Dynamics of a Nonequilibrium Discontinuous Quantum Phase Transition in a Spinor Bose-Einstein Condensate [0.0]
  We propose a spinor Bose-Einstein condensate as a testbed system where critical scaling behavior in a first-order quantum phase transition can be understood from generic properties.<n>We demonstrate the applicability of the Kibble-Zurek mechanism for this transition to determine the critical exponents for: (1) the onset of the decay of the metastable state on short times scales, and (2) the number of resulting phase-separated ferromagnetic domains at longer times.<n>The predictions are in excellent agreement with mean-field numerical simulations and provide a paradigm for studying the decay of metastable states in experimentally accessible systems.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2023-12-27T12:39:23Z)
• Observation of a finite-energy phase transition in a one-dimensional quantum simulator [39.899531336700136]
  We show the first experimental demonstration of a finite-energy phase transition in 1D. By preparing initial states with different energies in a 1D trapped-ion quantum simulator, we study the finite-energy phase diagram of a long-range interacting quantum system.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2023-10-30T18:00:01Z)
• The Quantum Transition of the Two-Dimensional Ising Spin Glass: A Tale of Two Gaps [2.6162685591970014]
  Quantum annealers seek good solutions by slowly removing the transverse magnetic field at the lowest possible temperature. The field removal diminishes quantum fluctuations but forces the system to traverse the critical point that separates the disordered phase from the spin-glass phase. A full understanding of this phase transition is still missing.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2023-10-11T13:32:58Z)
• Real-time dynamics of false vacuum decay [49.1574468325115]
  We investigate false vacuum decay of a relativistic scalar field in the metastable minimum of an asymmetric double-well potential. We employ the non-perturbative framework of the two-particle irreducible (2PI) quantum effective action at next-to-leading order in a large-N expansion.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2023-10-06T12:44:48Z)
• Universality of critical dynamics with finite entanglement [68.8204255655161]
  We study how low-energy dynamics of quantum systems near criticality are modified by finite entanglement. Our result establishes the precise role played by entanglement in time-dependent critical phenomena.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2023-01-23T19:23:54Z)
• Continuous phase transition induced by non-Hermiticity in the quantum contact process model [44.58985907089892]
  How the property of quantum many-body system especially the phase transition will be affected by the non-hermiticity remains unclear. We show that there is a continuous phase transition induced by the non-hermiticity in QCP. We observe that the order parameter and susceptibility display infinitely even for finite size system, since non-hermiticity endows universality many-body system with different singular behaviour from classical phase transition.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2022-09-22T01:11:28Z)
• Localization transition induced by programmable disorder [0.24629531282150877]
  Many-body localization occurs on a spin-1/2 transverse-field Ising model. We observe a transition from an ergodic phase to a non-thermal phase for individual energy eigenstates. We realize the time-independent disordered Ising Hamiltonian experimentally on a D-Wave 2000Q programmable quantum annealer.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2021-08-15T15:37:32Z)
• Constant of motion identifying excited-state quantum phases [0.0]
  A broad class of excited-state quantum phase transitions (ESQPTs) gives rise to two different excited-state quantum phases. These phases are identified by means of an operator, $hatmathcalC$, which is a constant of motion only in one of them. We present stringent numerical evidence in the Rabi and Dicke models, suggesting that this result is exact in the thermodynamic limit.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2021-03-19T12:17:36Z)
• Diagnosing First and Second Order Phase Transitions with Probes of Quantum Chaos [0.0]
  We explore quantum phase transitions using two probes of quantum chaos: out-of-time-order correlators (OTOCs) and the $r$- parameter.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2020-10-15T02:39:34Z)
• Probing eigenstate thermalization in quantum simulators via fluctuation-dissipation relations [77.34726150561087]
  The eigenstate thermalization hypothesis (ETH) offers a universal mechanism for the approach to equilibrium of closed quantum many-body systems. Here, we propose a theory-independent route to probe the full ETH in quantum simulators by observing the emergence of fluctuation-dissipation relations. Our work presents a theory-independent way to characterize thermalization in quantum simulators and paves the way to quantum simulate condensed matter pump-probe experiments.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2020-07-20T18:00:02Z)

This list is automatically generated from the titles and abstracts of the papers in this site.

This site does not guarantee the quality of this site (including all information) and is not responsible for any consequences.